London, 6 September 2018 – Oscar nominee Dame Kristin Scott Thomas (Darkest Hour, Gosford Park, The English Patient) and BAFTA Award-winning writer and actor Sharon Horgan (creator and star of Amazon/Channel 4’s Catastrophe, and creator of HBO’s Divorce and BBC’s Motherland) are set to star in the 42 produced Military Wives for Oscar nominated director Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty).

Military Wives is an Ingenious Media presentation of a 42 production. 42 is a Los Angeles and London based management and production company. Embankment arranged financing for the film which shoots next month in the UK and launch worldwide sales going into Toronto. CAA co-represents U.S. rights.

Lionsgate UK have acquired the film for the UK.

The story in the feature film is inspired by the award-winning BBC documentary series The Choir: Military Wives from Twenty Twenty (part of the Warner Bros. International Television group), which saw choirmaster Gareth Malone select and train amateur singers to form choirs, sparking a global phenomenon.

The story celebrates a band of misfit women who form a choir on a military base. As unexpected bonds of friendship flourish, music and laughter transform their lives, helping each other to overcome their fears for loved ones in combat.

Dame Scott Thomas commented: “I am really excited to be joining this project, and working with the extraordinary talents that are Sharon Horgan and Peter Cattaneo. This is the kind of film I love to do; it will make people laugh, and make people cry, touching on the subject of families who are often forgotten.”

Sharon Horgan said: ‘I tried to talk them out of giving me this part because I can’t really sing. But they just said ‘Pierce Brosnan’ and so here I am. I love Peter and I’m a huge, long-term fan of Kristin’s. I can’t wait to start working with them and telling this story.”

Producer Rory Aitken commented: “We were inspired by this story which showcases the transformative power of music in bringing people together and creating long-lasting, meaningful friendships and support networks. Wives in the military have been silently heroic for a long time, and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to bring their story to a global audience. Peter Cattaneo is the perfect filmmaker to bring this story to life, to capture the energy, optimism and humour of the characters. We’re delighted to have attracted such a brilliant cast with Kristin and Sharon on board.”

Embankment’s Tim Haslam commented: “The story is so utterly feel-good, and the audience will share its movie magic with a good dose of life affirming fun, laughter and true-to-life emotional experience.”

Lionsgate UK CEO Zygi Kamasa added: “Lionsgate is a leader in investing in British talent and British filmmaking and with that we are very happy to add the charming ‘Military Wives’ to our slate, continuing to make sure British films are at the forefront of cinema screens.”

The Military Wives choir gave a sell-out performance at the Royal Albert Hall in front of The Queen on Remembrance Day in 2001. There are now thousands of Military Wives Choirs worldwide and the phenomenon’s global reach was confirmed by the American Military Spouses Choir’s much celebrated performance on US network NBC’s America’s Got Talent in 2013.

ABOUT 42:42 is a management and production company, with offices in London and Los Angeles. Established in 2013, 42 is run by five partners: producers Rory Aitken and Ben Pugh and managers Kate Buckley, Cathy King and Josh Varney.

Their upcoming slate includes IRONBARK in pre-production with Sunnymarch and FilmNation Entertainment also producing and set to star Benedict Cumberbatch as well as IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON, starring Boyd Holbrook and financed by Netflix, which recently wrapped its shoot.

Other films in post-production include André Øvredal’s MORTAL, a fantasy adventure based on ancient Norwegian mythology.

Recent releases include IN DARKNESS, directed by Anthony Byrne and starring Natalie Dormer and Ed Skrein and THE TITAN starring Sam Worthington and Taylor Schilling. Previous film credits include Øvredal’s ‪THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE; Eran Creevy’s COLLIDE, starring Nicholas Hoult, Felicity Jones, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Sir Ben Kingsley; war drama SAND CASTLE starring Nicholas Hoult and Henry Cavill, which was released on Netflix globally; 20th Century Fox’s ‪THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR directed by Johannes Roberts; London-based crime thriller ‪WELCOME TO THE PUNCH, exec produced by Ridley Scott and the BAFTA-nominated feature film SHIFTY, starring Riz Ahmed.

42’s TV projects include JERUSALEM, a 6-part drama series commissioned by Channel 4, written by Bash Doran and starring Michael Stuhlbarg, Emma Appleton, Keeley Hawes and Luke Treadaway in post-production; ‪WATERSHIP DOWN, a 4 x 1 hour animated mini-series for BBC and Netflix, adapted from the global best-selling book by Richard Adams, written by Tom Bidwell, and featuring the voices of James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, John Boyega, Sir Ben Kingsley, Daniel Kaluuya, Gemma Arterton and Olivia Colman due to TX later this year and THE ENGLISH GAME, a 6-part drama series for Netflix, written by Julian Fellowes.

42 has a multi-year first-look development, financing and production deal for feature films with Netflix.

42 has a television output deal in the UK with distributor ITV Studios Global Entertainment; and a first look deal in the US with ITV Studios.

ABOUT INGENIOUS MEDIA:For 20 years, Ingenious has been at the forefront of investing in the global creative economy and in that time has raised and deployed over $10 billion. Ingenious has been involved in the production of a diverse slate of films, including the award-winning Life of Pi, Avatar, OscarÒ-nominated Carol, Brooklyn and Selma, five films in the successful X-Men franchise, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, breakout British hits Suffragette and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, as well as acclaimed television programmes such as The Fall, Dr. Foster and The Honourable Woman.

Titles currently in production include Judy starring Renée Zellweger, Gurinder Chadha’s Blinded by the Light and Benedict Andrews’ Against All Enemies. Titles currently in cinemas in the USA include Juliet, Naked based on the novel by Nick Hornby and OscarÒ-nominated director Lenny Abrahamson’s The Little Stranger.

At Venice and Toronto film festivals Ingenious Media is proud to be showcasing six feature films:

Dragged Across Concrete, starring Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn, and Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate, starring Willem Dafoe as Vincent Van Gogh, are having their worldwide premieres at Venice. At Toronto, Hotel Mumbai, The Wedding Guest and Out of Blue will premiere, while Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy has been selected as the closing night film.

ABOUT LIONSGATE:The first major new studio in decades, Lionsgate is a global content leader whose films, television series, digital products and linear and over-the-top platforms reach next generation audiences around the world. In addition to its filmed entertainment leadership, Lionsgate content drives a growing presence in interactive and location-based entertainment, video games, esports and other new entertainment technologies. Lionsgate’s content initiatives are backed by a nearly 17,000-title film and television library and delivered through a global sales and distribution infrastructure. The Lionsgate brand is synonymous with original, daring and ground-breaking content created with special emphasis on the evolving patterns and diverse composition of the Company’s worldwide consumer base.

ABOUT TWENTY TWENTY:Twenty Twenty is part of the Warner Bros. International Television Production group and based in the UK. A multi-award winning production company, Twenty Twenty has been making original, innovative programmes for global audiences since 1982. From documentary, reality, entertainment, drama and children’s, Twenty Twenty have won numerous awards for their work including recognition from BAFTA, Emmy, Grierson and the Royal Television Society.
Shows they have created include First Dates, which has launched in 19 different territories around the world and The Choir franchise, now celebrating over 12 years of collaboration with Gareth Malone. First Dates Hotel recently returned to Channel 4 for an acclaimed third series, and documentary series A House Through Time, presented by David Olusoga, became one of BBC Two’s best-ever rating historical series and will return for a second series next year. Twenty Twenty’s first-ever series for ITV, The Big Audition, starts next month.